English Crossroads in Lee County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church

Photographed by Mike Stroud, 2010

1. Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church Marker

Inscription.
This church was established in 1809. Its first building, a frame church, was built 1.5 mi. N on Broad Branch. The congregation moved to this site in 1829 and built a second church, also a frame building, in the 1830s. Mt. Zion's longest serving minister, Rev. William M. Reid, was the pastor here from 1833 to 1872.

The cemetery here dates from 1830, and the session house was built in 1851. A third frame church, built in 1855, burned in 1910. The present Neo-Classical Revival brick church, designed by the firm of Wilson & Sompayrac, was built in 1911. Mt. Zion was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

Erected 2005 by South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, sponsored by the Congregation. (Marker Number 31-16.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Religion & Religious Structures. In addition, it is included in the South Carolina Historical Markers series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1809.

Location. 34° 6.026′ N, 80° 13.637′ W. Marker is in English Crossroads, South Carolina, in Lee County. It is on St. Charles Highway (State Highway 154) near County Road 31-235, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Bishopville SC 29010, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in South Carolina’s Pee Dee.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Deep South.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers.

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

At least 8 other markers are within 8 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: A different marker also named Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Rev. Thomas Reese English (approx. 1.1 miles away); a different marker also named Henry Durant (approx. 5.1 miles away); Bethel United Methodist Church (approx. 5.7 miles away); Birth Place of Mary McLeod Bethune (approx. 6.1 miles away); Rembert Cemetery (approx. 7.1 miles away); Rembert Church (approx. 7.2 miles away); W. Green Deschamps, Jr. Highway (approx. 7.2 miles away).

Other markers no longer nearby. Rev. John Leighton Wilson, D.D. (was approx. 3.8 miles away but has been confirmed missing); Henry Durant (was approx. 4.7 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).

Regarding Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church. This Neo-Classical building, constructed in 1911, is an excellent and unusual example of an early twentieth century sanctuary in rural eastern South Carolina and one of the many designs by the architectural firm of Wilson & Sompayrac of Columbia, the most successful firm in the state during the first two decades of the century. Its principals were Charles Coker Wilson and Edwin Douglas Sompayrac. The present sanctuary is the fourth to serve this congregation.